South Australia’s wine regions are clearly a magnet for tourists. But the accommodation offering has not always been adequate to keep tourists in these regions for as long as possible, particularly given the relative ease of access to metropolitan Adelaide.
A new tourist accommodation and function centre at McLaren Vale designed by Cox Architecture will help change this.
Larger scale tourist accommodation located amongst vineyards is often controversial. There can be calls for such development to be located within townships to avoid impacts on primary production and rural character.
In this context, we were surprised to find single storey height limits and small scale development guidelines in the Neighbourhood Centre Zone of McLaren Vale.
Despite this, we believed that the position of the selected site away from McLaren Vale’s traditional main street, adjacent a significant shopping centre complex and coupled with its lower elevation justified a more substantial built form. The result was an attractive two to three storey building with 82 suites, restaurant, function facilities, under-croft car parking and additions to the existing shopping centre car park.
There were a number of representors concerned with bulk/scale/height and resultant amenity impacts including traffic, noise and waste collection.
The Council Assessment Panel (CAP) unanimously agreed that the development should be approved because:
- The bulk and scale provisions of the existing Development Plan were poorly matched to the subject site.
- The third storey had been carefully inset so that the building presents as two storeys to all boundaries, including to the Character Preservation District.
- The development is ideally located adjacent to the Coast to Vines bicycle track and looks out over part of the Character Preservation District.
- The provision of tourist accommodation in the proposed location will enhance opportunities for tourists to stay overnight within the McLaren Vale centre to the benefit of local business and the local economy.
The CAP also included a Reserved Matter that will see additional streetscape improvements along the Field Street frontage to create an attractive pedestrian friendly street presentation.
Great work Cox Architecture, Cirqa, Colby Phillips and PT Design. This will be a terrific addition to the facilities in McLaren Vale to attract and retain much desired tourism dollars.
